Opportunities

Spinning Nanofibers

Video Overview

Fabric is made by weaving fibers into cloth - which is then sewn into the shirts and pants that you wear every day. Now, at the Army research lab in Natick, Massachusetts, research chemist Kris Senecal is investigating ways to use the tiniest of fibers - called nanofibers - to help people stay healthy. Each nanofiber is 50 times finer than a strand of spider silk. Scientists can combine these nanofiber webs, or mats, with antibodies that will capture germs and bacteria that could make people sick. But that's not all these scientists are dreaming about, Kris says. "I would like to see textiles that you could actually have fun with" - maybe using them with electronics so people can plug their MP3 players into their shirts, for example. "It's just thinking out of the box."